technology will lead you into a lake

this morning i was suckered into going on the relief society temple trip, but of course i would go because 1. with the temple being so far away i definitely don't go enough and 2. when your friend texts you like 20 times in a two day period begging you to go, you just go. (hahaha, only for jenna)  so we meet up at 8:30am for a little bagel snack and then we head down to chicago to make the 11am session.  well, let's just say our gps devices were acting up and we arrived at our destination a little late, only to realize that we were at some random park under a train park and ride in a weird ethnic suburb of chicago. what?

 this picture does not really capture the ghetto-ness of our location.  imagine a few shopping carts full of garbage and one with a surfboard, a few broken down cars and a bounce house/ possible seen of a shooting.  it was crazy!  cop cars everywhere, ambulances and sirens blaring.  we eventually made it to the actual temple (which is located in a very safe neighborhood, don't worry mom!)

we ended up all finishing at the same time and we reunited in the dressing room.  phew!  here are most of the girls that were at the temple.  we took this picture moments before some crazy storm hit so we booked it to corner bakery and had a nice relaxing lunch.  we finally made it back to milwaukee at 4pm!!  i've never had such a long temple trip, but it was great getting to catch up with some of the girls in relief society.  i bet jenna will never drive with me anywhere again!!

it was my birthday!!

and my mom came to visit and to celebrate my birthday and david passing his board exam.  it was so much fun and as expected, i was beyond exhausted by the time we dropped her off at the airport.

 we started the night by going straight to mr. b's for a fabulous celebratory meal.  so delicious.

 my mom tried her had at some photography-- this was the best out of a few blurry shots and an accidental video?  i love when that happens.

 then we woke up a little early on saturday and headed to the honey pie cafe for some great french toast and a little taste of milwaukee.  the crowd is always great for people watching here.

 my mom loved it.  you will too!  (come visit)

 then we went down to chicago and walked around and went on an architectural boat tour.

 gang's all here!  (humidity + rain does weird things to my hair--half straight/half curly all the way frizzy?!)

 of course as soon as we boarded the tour boat it started raining--but we braved the storm to the city from a totally different perspective.

 it was very cool seeing all of downtown without having to walk for miles and miles or having to brave the crazy traffic.

 the tour's midpoint was at navy pier.  we have yet to visit this park in our years in the midwest, but we might next weekend when tyler and amber visit.

after the tour we walked around and waited in some lines and my mom just really wanted a picture by the original portillo's.  (she loves the place!)

we also went a little crazy at le creuset and i'm thinking i might need a few more shelves for all of my beautiful pots and pans.  (thanks again mom!  i'll post when david makes soup in his special soup pot).  we did a little baby shopping for the grandbabies and we stayed up late chit chatting and having hilarious text convos with my aunt carma.

it was such a great weekend!  i can't wait until my mom's next visit.

3rd annual bastille day festival

 a few weekends ago we headed down toward the lake to celebrate bastille day with the yans... 3rd year in a row (honestly, i can't believe we're going on 3 years in milwaukee!).  anyways, it was super fun as always, awesome cheese curds, people watching and of course the famous sidewalk chalk artists and mini eiffel tower.  we were all disappointed that the street performers were taking a break or something when we got there.

 this is a sidewalk chalk drawing of monet painting the lily pond, the artist was very proud that she thought she had achieved a 3-d look, i'm not buying it!  i just think she wanted tips!

 just like the real thing, right?

 it was crazy busy, one of the funniest things we saw were people trying to pick out temporary tattoos.  maybe next year justin!

i guess this will have to do until we can go visit the real one.  in other news, my french is really coming along.

family pics 2011

these are some of my favorites.  i miss everyone already.

i wish everyday was vacay

i loved our family vacation this summer!  it was non-stop laughs for a whole week.  i promise we did more than eat and parasail... but i figured 20 pictures is enough for this post.  i am really wishing i had another one of these to look forward to!

in other news, 3rd year is amazing.  david has done more around the house/yard in the past week than he has in the past year and it's a non-stop party.  love it!!  he has his first 24 hr call this sunday, so send some energetic vibes his way and feel free to stop by my house, i'll be making lots of food and being very lonely.

family pics sneak

i have a pretty cute family!  and look at that angel baby.  love.

wishin i was at the rio right now...

perfect book end meals to a fab vaca in carlsbad.